The Last Dance
by Pilchards and Porridge
Summary: Ignore the title - I can never think of a good one. basically a shortish CJ fic that I sort of wrote because I was bored. Cassie and Jake have to admit their feelings before someone else gets in the way. Please R&R!
1. Why can't we be normal? Cassie

A/N: This is my first fic so please be nice! Also, I am English, so please forgive me if any of the American stuff isn't spot on… I've tried my best! And this is set somewhere around book 34ish…well, that's where I've read upto, but it's not exactly set anywhere in particular…  
  
And before I get my ass sued, I don't own any of the characters in this fic, except a couple which I made up, but I damned wished I did coz then Cassie and Jake would actually get together..Sob sob..  
  
!!!!!!!!  
  
Cassie looked down at her homework, grateful for the fact that she had a free evening to get something done. For once, there was no meeting in the barn; for once there was no mission. She looked up out of her window, and watching the trees swaying in the gentle breeze thought about how much this war was costing her.   
  
'Is it really worth all of this: the stress, the anguish, the endless killing, night after night.' She wondered aloud. 'Is it really worth it?'  
  
'Is what really worth it, dear?' Cassie jumped as she heard a voice from behind her. She quickly spun around, to be greeted by her mum holding a glass of milk and cookies.   
  
'Oh, nothing,' Cassie faltered. She'd never been any good at lying, although all the lies she'd told after being given the morphing power had improved her skills. 'Just this homework. Do I really need to know all of the English Kings and Queens in order to survive?' She asked, hoping her mum wouldn't question her further.   
  
'It's a blessing you're actually here to do your homework, rather than out with those friends of yours. Christ knows what you lot get up to,' her mum replied, placing the milk and cookies on her daughters desk. 'By the way, Rachel wants to see you in the barn soon.' She said as she turned to go out.   
  
'OK, I've got some chores to do down there anyway,' Cassie said, placing her pen down. At least it would give her a break from memorising the order of millions of Edwards and Georges and Richards.  
  
She hopped down the stairs two at a time: she was in a way quite pleased that Rachel, her best friend had come round. She had some news for her.  
  
'Rach?! Guess what!' Cassie said as she approached the barn. She could see no-one. 'Rach?' she called, her soft voice piercing the surrounding silence. Still no answer.   
  
'Rachel?' Only the rustling of feathers could be heard. The bare light bulb lighting the barn started to flicker, making Cassie jump. She looked up to see a familiar falcon perched on the rafters.   
  
'Jake?' Cassie said, confused.   
  
Yeah, that's me, Jake replied. Cassie smiled.   
  
'What are you doing here? I thought Rachel had popped over…'  
  
Where on Earth did you get that idea? Jake asked as he demorphed.   
  
'Mum said… but probably a cover up. You know how much my dad is against the idea of me even seeing a member of the opposite sex,' Cassie said, starting to replenish the water in the cages.   
  
'So.. how are things?' Jake asked casually.  
  
'Fine. You?'  
  
'I've been thinking a lot recently,'  
  
'About?' Cassie said, turning around. Even though the barn was dimly lit, she could still see Jake as clear as day. It had never occurred to her how cute his eyes were, even though they had aged from the endless life-or-death decisions he had made as leader of the Animorphs.   
  
'This whole war. The fighting. The killing. Day after day, night after night.. all I can think about is how much this is affecting us, and is it really worth it?' He collapsed on a bale of hay. 'I keep having nightmares, that one of us gets killed, that one of us gets hurt… and it's my fault. The great fearless leader makes one decision too many. I'm scared, Cass. I'm scared that one day, I'll get it wrong, that one day I'll make the wrong decision, and that that day will be the day that we lose this war. It's insane… four kids, a hawk and an andalite have to save the entire planet. I've thought.. seriously thought about telling people about it, in the hope that somebody will believe us, so that we can let the FBI take over, and leave us to get back to some sort of normality,'  
  
Cassie said nothing. She could tell Jake had been under a lot of stress.. he had changed so much since the start of this war. She put the bandages down she had been using to redress the wounds on a skunk's tail and sat down beside him, putting her arm around his shoulders.   
  
'I just want it to be over,' He said, running his hands through his hair. 'I just want some sort of normality, just for once. What did we do to deserve this?'  
  
Cassie tightened her grip on him. 'We can be normal. Next week… the dance at school.. a special mission. For all of us. Just to wind down, chill out a little. We've had a lot of missions recently.. I think we all deserve a break. Find yourself a girl, and we'll have the time of our lives.' She said, desperately wishing she'd be that girl Jake would "find". 'Ax can come, Tobias… We can even let Marco come along… if he promises to behave,' Cassie joked. Jake smiled.   
  
'Yeah. I guess. Alright then, a special mission. On Cassie's request,' Jake stood up. 'Thanks, Cass.' He turned to leave.   
  
'Jake…' Cassie stopped him. 'Don't call me Cass,' She smiled. Jake froze, mouth open.   
  
'Jake?' he jumped as Cassie brought him back down to earth. 'Weren't you on the way out?'  
  
'Oh, yeah,' Jake said, a little embarrassed. He turned and walked out of the barn in a more cheery mood than he'd walked in with.   
  
The next day at school, Cassie was at her locker. People were jostling around her, all she could hear were invitations to the dance. Cassie sighed.. she wondered if Jake would actually ask her. Her thoughts were interrupted as she spied him talking to Jodie, a blonde girl in her class, and very pretty. Jake smiled at Jodie, and then she walked in Cassie's direction.  
  
'Got a date for the prom?' She asked, teasingly. Cassie's heart sank.. she knew Jake had asked her.   
  
'I might not even go,' she mumbled. 'Why, who's asked you?'  
  
'None other than Jake Berenson!' she squealed. 'How cool is that! Cutest guy in the school!' Cassie gave a half-hearted smile, but inside her heart was breaking. Jodie bounced off, obviously pleased. Cassie glanced up at where Jake was, and he caught her eye. She turned away.   
  
'Obviously I was mistaken,' she mumbled, fiddling around with her locker.   
  
'Mistaken about what?' She heard a familiar voice behind her. It was Rachel.   
  
'Oh nothing, just.. Jake's asked Jodie to the prom next week. I guess I just had my hopes up too high,' she sighed. 'Come on, we'll be late for math.' She said, trying to avoid the subject.  
  
!!!!!!!  
  
What dya think? Be honest, but be nice also J   
  
There will be more chapters coming up, but.. I have to write them first… believe it or not it does help.. lol, J 


	2. Why can't we be normal? Jake

Ok, heres the second part to the story: its pretty much the same as the first, just Jake's POV. Already, thanks to the reviews, I've changed pretty much everything in the story from what I first thought I'd write, and from being a project that I'd started because I had nothing else to do, it's now started to take over my life! Quite sad really, but.. hey. I'll live.  
  
so here it is, the second chapter. Hope you enjoy!  
  
Oh, yeah, disclaimer stuff: none of these characters are mine they're all K.A.A.'s, except Jodie Price, whose name I actually nicked from my other story I'm writing.

* * *

Jake lay back onto his bed, desperately trying to enjoy his night off from being the 'Almighty Leader' of the Animorphs. He had started to get fed up with whole war. He envied other guys.. they could go out, play computer games and worry about girls, just like any normal guy would. Jake? He was different. He had life-or-death decisions to make. It seemed as if he only ever left the house to go to school, attend meetings in the barn or go out on missions. The only thing in common between him and the average teenage guy was that he still had girl worries. Thoughts running round his mind 24/7 about various elaborate plots to try and capture Cassie's heart. From wooing her old-style with flowers and restaurant dates; to just trying to be friendly and cool and letting her take control, if she wanted to, Jake had ran through every idea he could think of. He'd never actually carried any of them out: although being leader of the Animorphs he was supposed to be confident and fearless, when it came to Cassie he was a wimp.  
  
Jake sighed as he sat up, and kicked his computer on. After five minutes of playing on Tomb Raider, he gave up and switched the computer off. He was sick and tired of the endless killing, this endless war which was ruining his life. He decided to pay a visit to Cassie: he wanted to see her, and he knew she'd be willing to listen and understand. Besides, he wanted to ask her to the School Prom.  
  
He wandered into the barn, and was greeted by Cassie's mum.   
  
'Er, hi. Is Cassie around?' he asked. Already his heart was beating rapidly and he hadn't even seen her.   
  
'Yeah, I'll just get her for you,' her mum smiled. He smiled back, and watched as she went into the house.  
  
Cassie came out to the barn, and looked around for him. He had morphed falcon to try and confuse her. But he was confused when Cassie said she'd been expecting Rachel.   
  
'Probably just a cover up,' she said.   
  
'How are things?' he asked, feeling awkward.  
  
'Fine. You?' she replied. He looked at her, really looked at her, deep into her eyes. Jake realised just how beautiful she was, just how much he really did love her, even if it was unrequited.   
  
'I've been thinking a lot recently,'  
  
'About?'  
  
'This whole war. The fighting. The killing. Day after day, night after night.. all I can think about is how much this is affecting us, and is it really worth it?' He collapsed on a bale of hay. 'I keep having nightmares, that one of us gets killed, that one of us gets hurt… and it's my fault. The great fearless leader makes one decision too many. I'm scared, Cass. I'm scared that one day, I'll get it wrong, that one day I'll make the wrong decision, and that that day will be the day that we lose this war. It's insane… four kids, a hawk and an andalite have to save the entire planet. I've thought.. seriously thought about telling people about it, in the hope that somebody will believe us, so that we can let the FBI take over, and leave us to get back to some sort of normality,' he said, feeling relieved as of a great weight had been taken off of his shoulders.   
  
'I just want it to be over. I just want some sort of normality, just for once. What did we do to deserve this?'  
  
Cassie said nothing for a while, just sat down next to him on the bale of hay and put her arm round him.   
  
'We can be normal. Next week… the dance at school.. a special mission. For all of us. Just to wind down, chill out a little. We've had a lot of missions recently.. I think we all deserve a break. Find yourself a girl, and we'll have the time of our lives. Ax can come, Tobias… We can even let Marco come along… if he promises to behave,' she smiled. He smiled too.   
  
'Yeah. I guess. Alright then, a special mission. On Cassie's request,' he said, his heart crying out for him to ask her to the prom. But he chickened out.  
  
'Thanks Cass,' he said, about to return home.   
  
'Jake..' he turned round to face her. 'Don't call me Cass,' she smiled at him, even wider than before. He stopped dead, mouth open, just looking at her, admiring her beauty. He was off in another world. He would ask her to the prom. Not tonight, but some other time. And they would have the time of their lives.   
  
'Jake?' he was bought back down to earth with a bump. 'Weren't you on the way out?'  
  
'Oh yeah,' he said, feeling himself going crimson. Now Cassie would think him an idiot and probably refuse him if he did ask. He walked out of the barn and back home, contemplating what he could do.   
  
'Hey Jake!' he heard a voice from behind him as he was sorting out his books for the next lesson. It was the next day, at School, and he turned round to be faced with Jodie Price. Blond hair, blue eyes, tall, slim… to most guys she would be the picture of perfection.   
  
'What's up?' he asked, cursing at her under his breath. He had just been working up the courage to ask Cassie out, but she had interrupted him.  
  
'Nothing, I just wondered if you'd got a date for the prom Not much time left you know!' she smiled at him, but he was lost in his own world.   
  
'No. I haven't.' he mumbled.  
  
'Neither have I!' she squealed. 'We can go together! How about it?'  
  
He looked up to see Cassie fumbling around with her locker. His heart started beating faster, as it always did whenever she was near.   
  
'Erm, yeah, whatever,' he said, not realising what he'd committed himself to. He was lost in his own world as Jodie bounced off away from him. Cassie looked up at him, and he quickly turned away. It had just dawned on him what he'd said to Jodie. He had to find a way to undo the damage he'd caused.

* * *

Please RR if you liked, if you didn't or have any random general comment to make.  
  
Thankyou!!!!! 


	3. The big day gets closer: Cassie

Finally, after over 4 weeks, here is chapter 3!!! Sorry peeps, but I happened to be in the wilds of Africa... bad news is it took me so long to update. Good news is this fanfic's pretty much completed now! Yay!

Thank you to everyone who reviewed and stuff.. I likes, I likes!!!

Anyways, disclaimer... I don't own Cassie, Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Ax, or Marco, however I DO own Jodie Price, Ritchie and Dom. Ha! Lol. Anyways, yeah, I don't own 'em, never will, never mind.

Here goes!

* * *

Cassie sat, swirling her straw around in her milkshake, staring into it, almost expecting it to give her the answers. She'd caught Jake's eye again the previous day as they left school. Jodie had been flirting with him and he wasn't exactly pushing her away.

'Cassie, please. Cheer up,' Rachel said, sitting opposite her. Cassie woke up to the real world: the buzz of the mall surrounded her once more.

'Yeah well, you're not the one who's had their prom date taken away from them.' She replied, sounding more miserable than ever.

'Oh, cheer up. Please. Just because Jake has asked Jodie to the prom instead of you... there's plenty more fish in the sea.'

'For you maybe. You have it perfect, Rach. Boyfriend whom nobody knows is alive at all, and if...The slightest possibility that it goes wrong with Tobias.. there's millions of guys queuing up for you Rach!' Cassie started to raise her voice a little, tears forming in her eyes. 'For me.. Jake is precious. I could never have anyone half as great as Jake.'

'You know that's not true..' Rachel interrupted her best friend, realising for the first time how much this meant to her.

'No Rach. You know it is. No guy looks at me twice. I'm just the weird one. The one who doesn't get all her clothes from Gap. The one who talks more to animals than to real people. I'm not like you, Rach. Jake was... Jake is a miracle. And I know we've never confessed it to each other, but.. I thought... I thought...I thought he felt the same way,' Cassie's voice reduced to a mumble as she resumed staring into her milkshake. Rachel kept quiet for a moment or two, before her eyes lit up.

'What?' Cassie asked, subdued.

'I have the perfect solution. Retail therapy!' she said, a smile on her face. Cassie's face, however, remained blank. 'Shopping! You need a prom dress, right? And where do we happen to be? Come on, shopping cheers everyone up. Even those less experienced in the skill, such as yourself.' Cassie just rolled her eyes, and submitted herself to being dragged around the mall, trying on dress after dress. To start with, she found herself hating every dress she set eyes upon. She had never liked dresses: too girly swirly, not practical enough. Come on, she thought. How am I meant to tidy the barn in _this?_ But after the first few dresses, she started to enjoy herself a little. Although Jake didn't entirely escape her mind, he was certainly pushed back a little.

After at least 5 shops and countless dresses, Cassie felt helpless. Not one dress had they seen that suited her.

'Well, I guess I'll just have to skip the prom then won't I?' she said as the two best friends entered yet another shop. Rachel smiled.

'Nah-ah.' She had spotted something... and made a beeline for it. Cassie raced after her, but stopped abruptly as she saw what Rachel had. It was gorgeous... even Cassie knew that and she'd only just started to get into this shopping lark. Cream, satin, full-length skirt with a split... she was in the changing rooms within seconds.

If the dress had seemed good before, now it was perfect. It was made for Cassie: the cream shone against her chocolate skin; the slit in the skirt revealed just enough to e tantalising, but not enough to be slutty. Cassie smiled as she spied herself in the mirror. She could imagine herself now: hair done up properly, slight touch of make up... but she soon brought her mood down when she thought of her date. Or rather the non-existence of him. This mood was soon broken, however, when Rachel saw her.

'Cassie.. it's perfect. Get it off and get to the checkout right now!' she said, and Cassie obeyed.

Just two hours after sitting and moping in the café in the centre of the mall, Cassie's spirits had been lifted and she now sat with a new lease of life, her bags proudly sat beside her. She and Rachel drank their milkshakes quite quickly, and so Cassie got up to order some more. As she stood at the counter, waiting to be served, her eyes wandered into the arcade. There she saw the backs of two very familiar heads... and the face of one extremely irritating girl. Jake and Marco, with none other than Jodie Price hanging around them. Cassie scowled: she couldn't bear it. She and Jake.. she and Jake were meant to be. They both knew it... didn't they?

'Excuse me?' the waitress said from behind the counter. Cassie's thoughts were interrupted and she ordered another two shakes, and went to sit down with Rachel.

'Rach.. Remind me why I have just spent over $30 on a bag which can only just fit my keys in, which I'll never use again after this prom, this prom which I don't really want to go to, this prom which I don't even have a date for?' she said, slumping in her chair, depressed at the sight she just witnessed. Rachel opened her mouth to answer, but was stopped by a pair of cute guys walking over to where they were sat.

'Heya girls! Want a drink?' the taller one offered.

'We just ordered, thanks,' Rachel replied, flicking her blonde hair over her shoulder. 'But you can pay if you're so desperate!'

The tall guy laughed, his shorter mate only smiled.

'Mind if we sit down?' he asked whilst doing so.

'Too late if we did,' Rachel muttered. 'So... you guys are in 12th grade, right?'

A/N: sorry if I've got the whole grade system wrong... from what I can make out it's pretty similar to the English system, but.. apologies if it's wrong ï 


	4. The big day gets closer: Jake

OK guys, here's ch. 4... the last two chapters will be winging your way pretty soon too (told you there was a good side to me not updating for so long!)  
  
Please continue with the reviews.. tbh they're what're keeping me going with this! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Jake, marco, cassie, rachel, tobias, ax, Halo, warthogs, or anything else mentioned in this fic that evidently isnt mine. blah blah balls. im sure you all know this by now anyways.

Oh, and... there might be a little coarser (that a word) language in this chapter.. sorry if it offends anyone

* * *

'Jake man! What on earth did you do that for?' Marco asked as he and Jake sat playing multiplayer Halo. 'What, snipered you again?!' Jake retorted.  
'Camper. No, I mean… Jodie. How could you? Isn't she like.. the most annoying girl in the school?' 'I know, but.. I was thinking about Cassie all the time. That's why I agreed. Got ya! By the way, the sniper rifle's at the top of the base, not inside.' Jake said, punching the air in victory.  
'Oh, so it'd really do Cassie good to see you with another girl. Great idea, oh fearless leader.' Marco started to run riot with the sniper rifle he had now managed to find. 'So that's where you are!' Jake laughed as Marco managed to shoot him. He respawned, grabbed the nearest Warthog and ran Marco over. End of game. Jake won, 50 kills to 32.  
'So what, I go to the prom with Jodie. Big deal. Not the first girl I've been with besides Cassie.' Jake shrugged it off.  
'I know, but… Come on man. Cassie doesn't go to proms. She suggested it, I'll bet in the hope that you'd take her.' 'Grab your coat Marcus. We're going real shooting.' Jake ignored him. He knew it was wrong for him to with Jodie. But with less than 4 days to go before the prom, he figured it was too late to change anything.  
  
They wandered down to the arcade in the mall, Marco not once shutting up about how in the wrong Jake was.  
'Me and Cassie… there was never anything official between us. Never. We didn't go out on dates.. unless you call a yeerk pool ambush a date.' Jake tried to defend his actions, without success.  
'Could be kinky.' Marco joked. 'Seriously man, you and Cassie.. It's meant to be! True love is the reali-tee!' Jake playfully punched him. 'Besides, I'll bet Cassie won't even go. There'll be something come up at the barn. You see if I'm wrong.'  
  
They made it to the arcade, and conversation stopped. They became engrossed in the shooting.  
'Whoo! High score!' Jake shouted, breaking his gaze from the screen for a second. He caught sight of a body behind him. He swiftly turned around to be greeted with Jodie.  
'Well done! Must be really difficult to get up there. How did you do it?' she asked, not really interested just pleased to be with Jake. Marco threw a very dirty look in their direction, and then turned back to his game. Jodie wrapped her arms around Jake.  
'My champion, aren't you?' she said, looking up at him. 'Shall we get a drink to celebrate?' So they motioned toward the central café in the mall. Jake spotted Cassie and his cousin Rachel sat with a couple of guys, and felt a small surge of jealousy. Was one of them with Cassie? Of course not, he thought. He was safe: he knew Cassie liked him, and besides, they were probably fawning over Rachel.  
  
'Oh, Jakey.. I have to go now,' Jodie put on a baby voice. 'Got to go to the evil doctor. I'll see you tomorrow,' she said, and gave him a big bear hug. 'Alright then. See you tomorrow.' Jake said, trying to ignore her. She left him and Marco on their own.  
  
'I tell ya, Jake, she is bad news when it comes to you and Cassie.' Marco said, slowly sipping his coke. 'Chill. I have it all under control.' Jake replied calmly. He looked calm, he sounded calm. But he wasn't calm. He'd just seen some 12th grade jerk walk off with his Cassie. His hardman image was only that.. an image. He didn't have anything under control, and was in fact now very panicky as to whether he and Cassie were actually more than friends anymore. 


	5. Prom Night: Cassie

OK guys, the 5th chapter is here finally! Hope it's ok, and thanks to everyone who reviews!!!

Not much else to say, so on with the show! :-)

* * *

'Ow!' Cassie squealed as Rachel tried to pin her hair up in numerous ways. 'Why can't I just have it in a bun, like normal?'

'Because, duh, that's normal. You need to look special. This is your big night.' Rachel replied, letting down the bundle of hair and starting again. She had already sorted herself out; she was now trying to get Cassie looking more stunning than ever.

'You know.. I could always just wear my hair down...' Cassie suggested, but this was a suggestion met with the dirtiest look from Rachel.

'No-one wears their hair down at a prom. It has to be up.' She said, brushing it all back, around the towel covering Cassie's shoulders. 'However...' she said, giving it a few more brush strokes. 'This could look really good. Take the towel off and have a look,' she commanded. Cassie obeyed. As she looked in the mirror... She saw a different side to herself. Make up, a dress, hair down... this wasn't her. But it felt good.

'Can I get a photo yet?' Cassie's mum asked through her bedroom door.

'Sure mom, come in,' Cassie replied. She and Rachel posed for a photo, winced when her mum said she couldn't believe her baby was growing up, and then felt relieved when she left.

'Rach...' Cassie started. 'You do think I made the right decision, going to the prom with Dom, don't you?'

'Sure. I mean.. If Jake can have a prom date then you can.'

The doorbell rang, and Rachel and Cassie ran downstairs. It was Dom, come to pick them both up, and he had hired a limo especially for the occasion. The two girls squealed, and climbed in. Tobias was to meet Rachel at the prom.

After all the hype surrounding the biggest social event of the year, Cassie had expected a little more than what she encountered. The Gym hall: poorly decked out in ancient decorations, a lousy DJ playing last years tunes, some sort of fruit concoction they called punch, and the behavioural patterns of the two sexes was beyond Cassie. Guys stood at one end of the hall, girls standing in groups giggling on the other, it was as if some sort of force field was separating them. Only a few well-established couples stood together, the rest left to giggle or fart.

'Want a glass of punch?' Dom offered Cassie about half-way through the event. She nodded, and Dom came back with a plastic cup full of a red liquid with what she supposed were bits of fruit floating in it. He managed to spill it all down the front of Cassie's dress. Furious, she stormed out of the hall, and out of the school, leaving Dom to mop up. It was still quite light outside, and she managed to wobble her way to the nearest park, and sat on the swings, wondering why on earth she had ever dared to go to the prom in the first place. After about 30mins, she was joined by a strange figure. It had grown quite dark by now, and so at first she couldn't tell who it was. She was just about to hop off the swing and run for her life when she realised it was Jake.


	6. Prom Night: Jake

Aaaand the 6th chapter too! Aren't you lucky people today! Enjoy :-)

* * *

'Ready to rock and roll?' Marco asked Jake, knocking on his bedroom door. He opened it ever so slightly, and peered in. Jake was sat on his bed, head in his hands. 'What's up Jakey?'

'This whole damned prom! I'm going with a girl I can't stand, Cassie's got a date when I thought she wouldn't even go, and this tux looks ridiculous,' he said, looking up at Marco.

'Hey man, we all look like dorks in tux's. Except me, of course.' He joked. 'The name's Bond. Marco Bond.' He adopted a rather pants English accent, and mimed a gun with his hands. Jake smiled.

'Comeon then, action hero. Let's go save the world.' He said, getting up from his position on the bed.

'Gone to Prom. Be back no later than 12. see you,' he scrawled the message on a piece of paper. Someone'd pick it up. He and Marco left, and started on their way to school. Jake was meeting Jodie there.

He actually met her running down the street to greet him. She hugged him, and twisted his hand into hers as they walked down to the school entrance. Jake tried his best to shake her off, to no avail. For the first hour and a half, all Jodie would do was cling to Jake's side, whinging and moaning about her dress.

'You look great,' he mumbled, telepathically telling her to shut the hell up. The messages didn't seem to get though, however. She still kept on whining.

'She is doing my head in!' Jake said, holding his head in frustration. He had managed to get just a little time on his own in the bathroom when Jodie went off to talk with some friends. Marco just looked on in silence.

'Why the hell did I even agree to come with her?' he asked, seemingly on the verge of tears. 'If only I'd've asked Cassie...'

'Yeah well, Jake. You didn't. Your mistake.' Marco said, seriously for once. 'Come on, Jodie'll be sending a search party to look for you,' he grabbed Jake's arm and pulled him out of the restroom.

'Jake!' Jodie screamed as she raced across the gym floor to greet him. Half way, however, she tripped, and slid across the gym floor, much to the amusement of the whole school. Tears dripping down her face, she screamed she'd broken her ankle. Mrs Greenfell, one of the supervising teachers, carefully looked at it and confirmed it was no more than just a sprain.

'I want my parents!' Jodie shouted, and so they were called. On arrival at the scene, they demanded to know why an ambulance hadn't been called. Jake saw his opportunity and made a runner, out of the school and into the streets of the city, glad at last to have gotten away from Jodie.


	7. Expression: Joint

Ok guys, really sorry about the wait for this, the final chapter. I'd almost given up writing after a handful of spiteful comments made about another of my fics, but thanks to my mates and all those wonderful reviews I recently re-read, I decided to at least finish this one.

Let me know what you think, and a huge thankyou to everyone who has reviewed so far: this chapter wouldn't exist without you.

* * *

'Hey,' Cassie said, softly.

'Hey. You ok? You ran out pretty fast...' Jake asked, sitting on the swing next to her.

'Yeah, I'm fine, just.. Dom managed to tread on my toe, ruin my shoes and spill punch all down my dress.' She smiled.

'Yeah. He seemed pretty upset. He left, trying to find you.'

'Well, he hasn't yet. Let's hope he never will. How come you've come out, anyway?'

'Aah, I got bored. Jodie managed to fall over while we were dancing. She's only sprained her ankle, but she swore she'd broken it. Made Mrs Greenfell phone her parents. They were worse. Demanded to know why they hadn't phoned the ambulance. It was just a sprain!' he said, swinging high on the swings.

'It'll all be over in an hour, anyway,' Cassie said watching him. 'Fancy a walk?'

'Sure,' he replied, slowing down on the swing, then jumping off. They started to wander down to the beach.

'Cass.. where are you taking me?' Jake asked, smiling. He stepped onto the soft sand and smiled even more.

'Only so I can take these damned shoes off,' Cassie explained, bending down to undo the complicated buckles. Jake bent down too, and after assisting her, took off his own shoes and socks. They strolled down to the waters edge, and sauntered along the sand where the sea meets it, getting their feet wet.

They walked in silence, only the sound of the waves to keep them company. Before long, however, the sandy beach turned into jagged rocks, and so they scrambled up (with great difficulty on Cassie's part... the dress didn't help.) and sat on top of the rocks, looking out over the sea.

'Beautiful, isn't it?' Cassie said, bringing her legs close to her chest and hugging them.

'Yes,' Jake replied. 'You are.'

Cassie turned her head to see Jake looking at her in the same way she had been looking over the sea. She smiled broadly, shying her head away from Jake's gaze.

'Don't be stupid,'

'I'm not.'

She looked up again to see him. He had never been more serious in his life. Cassie looked at him, deep into his eyes, and immediately melted.

'Jake, I...' she started, but Jake's finger lightly pressed against her lips, telling her to stop. She did, and Jake moved his finger away, replacing it with his lips. He slid his hand into Cassie's hair, and stroked it gently. Cassie closed her eyes, lost in the moment Her hand reached onto his shoulder, her other cupped lightly around his neck.

It was a short kiss, but replied with a longer one, which in turn was replied with a longer one still. Jake's heart beat wildly: he could not believe it. He was here, on his favourite spot, with the girl he loved. Nothing could have come between the pair of them that night, as they sat under the stars, the soft sound of waves crashing against the rocks. Jake had his hands gently stroking Cassie's hair; his other hand being fondled by Cassie's. They sat in silence for a while, before Jake spoke quietly.

'I'm always here for you, Cass. Always. I'm always here for you, I'll always be here for you, and I'll always care about you. I would have quit this stupid war if it weren't for you. I mean, yeah, it's great to say I'm doing it for the good of the nation, that my main driving force behind all this fighting and killing was the safety of the earth, but to be honest Cass: I couldn't care less about that. What I do care about, however, is ensuring that the girl whom I love is safe and out of harm's reach. Ensuring you are safe.' Cassie said nothing, just looked up at the stars.

'I love you, Jake. I really do. And nothing, not parasitic slugs, not morphing capabilities, not even slimy Jodie Price can ever stop me. Nothing.' She looked up at him, smiling. He smiled back.

'Come on. If we're quick we can still catch the last dance,' he said, holding his hand out for Cassie to take it. She did, and they walked off into the night, hand in hand, together as one.


End file.
